diff --git a/src/_pytest/main.py b/src/_pytest/main.py
index 843c5b5f7..3fcc16bb1 100644
--- a/src/_pytest/main.py
+++ b/src/_pytest/main.py
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ def pytest_addoption(parser):
 
     group = parser.getgroup("collect", "collection")
     group.addoption(
+        '-C',
         "--collectonly",
         "--collect-only",
         action="store_true",
